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TRP: Hansel and Sugar (Dancing)
Izzy: at 2:25 PM Drunk Night on the Sugar Glider, concurrent with the Mishka/Goro scene. Mishka had wandered off -- said he needed some rest, and said some other things, too, that Hansel kept thinking about and smiling and looking down over -- but Hansel expected he’d probably rally and come back. He already had once. Until then, though, Hansel had noticed that Nixie was being oddly asocial, closed up in her quarters for a good portion of the night now, and Roddy had gone in there as well. It seemed like a situation he should check up on. Everything was definitely fine -- he just wanted to check. He could hear her and Roddy chatting indistinctly as he came up to the door, and stop when he tapped on it. Sugar called who is it? and brightly told him to come in when he said his name. Still very suspicious, he pushed the door open. Nixie was sitting under the light of a row of glowing crystals, her hair in a simple but elegant sort of braid, with Roddy sitting next to her terribly intent on painting her nails. One set of his claws was already brightly colored. Hansel’s heart clenched. They were so ... goddamn cute. Look at them. They got along. They were fucking normal. “Hey, Nixie.” He raised a hand at Roddy and shut the door behind him. “Uh ... Just checking in. You been hidin’ out in here for a while. Everything good?” Coyote: at 2:34 PM And Nixie looked up at him. Eyes looking-- wet. And immediately put her hands up to her face and burst into tears. "Oh no," she said, quickly, and put her hands back down. "Oh no, I didn't mean to-- please keep doing them, Roddy, I just..." She waved a hand in front of her face. Her face was pinker than normal, likely because of the alcohol. Her tail wrapped defensively around the chair. Muse: at 2:39 PM Oh no. "Sugar no don't cry I thought we were having fun," Roddy said, distressed. Sugar wasn't supposed to cry! Not when nice things were happening! Maybe a hug would help. Roddy wrapped his arms around her, squeezing her tightly and shooting Hansel a panicked look. Izzy: at 2:43 PM "Ah, fuck." How many people was he going to make cry tonight? Well, he probably hadn't caused this, but he was going to fucking fix it. Roddy got there first -- look at him, awkwardly giving her a hug, trying to reassure her, Hansel was so goddamn proud of him -- but Hansel was there in the next instant, kneeling in front of her, rubbing her shoulder. "Hey, hey, hey," he said softly. "What's wrong, motek? What can I do to help?" Coyote: at 2:44 PM "It's fine, it's fine. I'm. I just." She hiccupped and took another drink of wine. "It's just. Goro." And waved her hands. Izzy: at 2:44 PM Fuckin' Goro. "The fuck did he do now?" How had he even had time? Muse: at 2:48 PM "I thought you liked Goro though?" Roddy was so confused. "Weren't we doing all this so you got to look pretty for him?" Coyote: at 2:53 PM "I'm just," Sugar said, "I'm just, um, h-having a lot of... f-feelings, and... Roddy is being so, um, nice, and I never got to-- I never got to paint my sister's nails, she never let me do her hair-- and everyone's being nice. And Mishka. Told me, um, to try this wine? Called moscato... he said I'd like this one, and gosh, he was right, it's-- it's very good." She hiccupped again. "I'm just. I'm h-having such a good time, and-- I've never had friends before, and everyone is having such a good time, and Mishka is back, and Goro only has six seconds left, and Roddy is doing my nails, and I'm h-having a lot of f-feelings. Gosh. A lot. Of feelings. Do regular folks have this many feelings?" Izzy: at 3:12 PM Hansel sighed in relief. Okay. All right. Goro hadn't done anything, Nixie was fine. God, he was not equipped to deal with a kid who was crying because they were happy, though. That was a new one for him. He kept rubbing her shoulder. He didn't know she had a sister. Didn't know anything about her, really -- only the important things, that she was unerringly kind, and trusting and brave and strong -- and fuck, he was having feelings too. He cleared his throat. "Okay, kid, maybe it's time to start drinking water, all right." He unfastened his waterskin and held it out to her. "Yeah, I think we all, uh. Have a lot of feelings." Muse: at 3:19 PM "I don't have a lot of feelings," Roddy said. Mostly just relieved that nothing was really wrong. He let Sugar go, giving her a couple pats- on her back for once, didn't want to mess up her hair. "Oh hey Hansel!" he greeted belatedly. "We're getting pretty!" he waved his hand around- the non-painted one- beaming broadly. "I like Sugar, she's my second favorite now." Coyote: at 3:27 PM "Yeah. It's just." Nixie wiped her eyes with her free hand. She looked around conspiratorially. She bit her lip. Mishka said it was alright to share secrets with some people, but only certain people. She was afraid that if she said it in front of Roddy, he'd blab. He was sweet, but he was... he was a kid, right? Man, she had no clue how tortles worked. Goro told her not to tell people, though, that they'd kissed and such, and she'd agreed. Drat. She needed Hansel's help with something, though, but she couldn't ask for it in front of Roddy. She shook her head and looked away, miserable. Mishka would know how to tactfully get Roddy out of the room. Oh. Well. Actually. Maybe she could. Just. "Roddy," she said. "I need to talk to Hansel alone. It's a secret. Can you leave the room?" She smiled brilliantly at him. "I'll help you with your shell tomorrow." Gosh, why didn't Mishka ever think of stuff like this. She'd have to tell him. Muse: at 3:33 PM Oh secrets! Roddy was terrible at secrets. "Okay," he agreed. And just because he was drunk and affectionate, he gave Sugar one more hug before getting up to leave. "You are the bestest. Hansel! Help us remember that Sugar's gonna paint my shell cause we're all drunk!" he declared, and burst into giggles. Hansel needed a hug too. Roddy stopped and threw his arms around his dad, leaning against him and just- stopping for a second. Basking in the warm glow of being drunk and being loved. Izzy: at 3:39 PM Hansel was thrown slightly off-balance by the hug, both because Roddy was nearly as big as he was and because he hadn't been remotely expecting it. Roddy hadn't hugged him before. He'd expected that to take ... a while. Well, the kid was pretty drunk, but still -- it meant something. His eyes pricked a bit and he blinked quickly to clear them. "Will do, kid." He'd leave himself another note. Then he lowered his voice a little and added, "Listen, Roddy, hey. I'm so fuckin' proud of you. Okay? I'm real glad you threw that beer at me that one time." He patted the kid's shell and let him go. Muse: at 3:48 PM Hansel was proud of him. Roddy didn't know why but this was the best ever. He was grinning like a loon as they broke the hug. "You are the bestest dad," Roddy said earnestly. "I am glad I did not hit you. Have fun with your secrets," he declared, waving as he ducked out the room and shut the door behind him. Aw shoot he'd left his bottle behind. Welp, he knew where the stash was for another one. Izzy: at 3:54 PM Hansel cleared his throat again as Roddy shut the door, and took a quick breath. Hopefully Nixie wouldn't notice. He turned back to her, giving her his complete attention, now. "All right. So, uh. What's the big secret?" He was a little concerned, but she'd been crying because she was happy. Maybe it was a good secret. Those existed, probably. Coyote: at 3:58 PM Nixie composed herself. She was still wearing her usual clothes, and barefoot. She scooted the chair out of the way, and Goro's cot, so they'd have enough room. "I've been taking notes," she said. "On how to--" No, he probably didn't need to know the whole story. "It doesn't matter. But. I have a problem. I don't know how to dance-- Mum wouldn't teach me. Just, rowdy sailor stuff, and-- people dancing in taverns, I know how to do that, but like... romantically. Like married folks. Slowly. How do you do that." Hansel had been married, right? She felt sad when she thought about that. Izzy: at 4:05 PM "Uh." Fuck. "I mean, it's --." He hesitated. He could put this off by asking why she needed to know, but they were going to get there eventually unless he just told her no, and it wasn't like he needed to ask. She wanted to dance with Goro. 'Romantically'. Goddamn, that was adorable. Hansel had really turned a corner on that fuckin' guy. Yeah, this was fine. "All right. Yeah." He held out his hand. "I can show you." Coyote: at 4:09 PM She took his hand. Izzy: at 4:31 PM "Okay. I think I ... kinda remember how to do this." He pulled her closer and directed her hands on his shoulders -- which was quite a stretch for her, and he felt the need to comment, "Won't be quite as awkward with -- uh, someone closer to your size. Hands can go ... wherever, though, really. Wherever you're comfortable with." He kept his on her shoulders, for the moment, because anything else would have felt bizarre. "Hips, waist, whatever. And you can get closer -- arms around the shoulders, or wherever. I mean, you can't really reach my shoulders, but with -- uh, whoever else, I mean. It'll be fine." Then there was the actual dancing part. He'd never been ... good at that. He could lead a dozen sailors through complicated combat drills without putting a foot wrong, keep his balance in rigging for hours, but put him alone in a room with Mishka and a crackly phonograph and suddenly he was the most uncoordinated motherfucker on the sea. It'd probably be easier to just admit that. "I'm not uh, great at this. Honestly, kid, you probably shoulda asked Mishka." But Mishka was in bed. Or wherever, getting his alone time. Hansel cleared his throat again; he needed to not think about Mishka, about how they used to dance late at night with just a candle lighting the room, about the last time they had, how he'd thought they never would again but now maybe -- fuck, it was hard. He settled for just swaying back and forth, leading her. "I never really learned any ... steps," he admitted. "Sorry. But, look, it's not about -- doing it right. There's not a right way to do it. It's just --." He paused. "It's about what feels right." Does Goro feel right? he wanted to ask. He'd seen them together. It seemed like they both felt the same way. It also seemed like they didn't want to talk about it, so he didn't push. They were adults, approximately. They'd work it out -- and he could help, he would. Coyote: at 4:37 PM "Okay. That-- that helps." She followed his steps a while. It was hard, though, because it seemed like there was no exact pattern or strict rules to follow. She wasn't good with that. It was about what felt right? She didn't... know what that meant, usually. "Um, I need to do a couple more things tonight, but I'm not sure how to do them. Does anyone, um. Is anyone-- on the crew-- good with like... explosives?" Izzy: at 4:37 PM He narrowed his eyes. "Larkin might have some dynamite. Why?" Coyote: at 4:38 PM She smiled brilliantly, so pleased with herself. "It's a surprise. Mishka is helping me." Izzy: at 4:38 PM "Nixie, that doesn't reassure me at all. Don't blow up the ship." Coyote: at 4:39 PM "Oh, okay," Nixie said. "I mean... sure. Okay." She was silent for a moment as they swayed. "What parts of the ship," she said. Izzy: at 4:40 PM "All ... parts of the ship. Don't blow up any parts of the ship. Ideally." Coyote: at 4:40 PM "Oh," Nixie said. "Yes. Absolutely. Yes." She went to her desk and scribbled it down on the list, next to step five. Izzy: at 4:43 PM Hansel couldn't tell if this was a good thing or not. At least he'd gotten here in time, he supposed. "What, uh. What else is on that list that I might need to know about. For the safety of the ship, I mean." Coyote: at 4:49 PM "Oh, that's the worst thing." She showed him the list. "Maybe you can help. The explosives... I need someone to do... firework. I know how to make them-- and we have some on board, actually, I was..." She fumbled a bit. "Before this, before Diva..." She felt twitchy and anxious, and upset. "I was going to christen the ship. I was going to have a party. But. Tonight. I thought." She showed him the list. Nails, hair—Roddy. Dress. Roddy—music? Raef and Griffin wanted to dance. Monster attack (No???) Set up fireworks. Crow’s nest? Goro? Somewhere. Maybe Larkin. Izzy: at 5:00 PM Hansel nodded as he looked over the list. This was ... written in another language. It used all the same words as Common, but it was almost completely illegible to him. Maybe he was just much drunker than he had realized. "Okay," he said slowly. "I mean, fireworks should be fine. Or maybe one of the spellcasters has some --." But Nixie and Goro were two of the spellcasters. God, this was really some kind of plan, wasn't it? She'd said Mishka had been helping her with it. That was concerning in general. "Y'know, I think Roddy has this light spell. That'd be safe. Not that the fireworks are a bad idea, just -- uh, we're all real fuckin' drunk and you don't usually wanna fuck around with things that explode when you're drunk. Just a thought." Coyote: at 5:03 PM Sugar watched him with wide, round eyes. "I mean. That's. Good advice? But... fireworks." Izzy: at 5:04 PM He thought for a moment. "All right. Yeah. Gimme a bit. I'll start drinking water and get something to eat and I'll handle the fireworks." Coyote: at 5:07 PM She broke into an enormous smile. "Oh, okay. That's--" She hadn't thought about that. "Thank you. I didn't... you don't have to." Mishka's mask was sitting on her desk, hidden beneath a stack of papers. She began re-organizing things on her desk, then accidentally uncovered it. Then suddenly remembered she'd agreed not to let anyone see it if she was to use it. Then quickly covered it again. Oh gosh. Hansel was being so nice. And Roddy had been-- so nice, even though he didn't have to at all. And Mishka even let her borrow the mask. And-- She started bawling again. She grabbed the moscato bottle and tipped it up. She drank the last half in one go. Izzy: at 5:16 PM Hansel narrowed his eyes and opened his mouth to ask why she had Mishka's mask -- how that could possibly figure into this plan -- but before he got there she broke into tears again, and downed the rest of her wine in one go. God, for someone so tiny she could put it away. "Okay, that's not --." He gently pulled the bottle away from her, as pointless as it was at this point. "That's not gonna help anything." (The fuck was he saying? What a hypocrite.) "Nixie." He put his hands on her shoulders firmly to make her face him. "Hey. Your plan's gonna go great. Everything's gonna go great. And I'm gonna get you some fuckin' bread and water so you don't throw up later, all right? Good plan?" Coyote: at 5:22 PM Nixie nodded jerkily. "G-good, um. Good plan," she managed through tears. She sat down on her bed. And while Hansel went out to grab the bread and water, she changed into her dress. END Category:Text Roleplay